“You Did Not Need to Kill Him”: Madison Police Fatally Shoot Corey Ruiz and Withhold Key Details

Madison police shot and killed Corey Durell Ruiz, 38, a homeless man, on a city street Wednesday, and the killing shows a department that used lethal force after tasing him when officers appeared to already have him under control, then withheld basic accountability afterward.

Bystander David Ortiz-Whittingham, who watched officers swarm Ruiz, said: "I thought, 'Holy cow,  what could have warranted that?' It looked to me like they had him under control. Even now, knowing about the knife, did he have to die for it? Could this have been de-escalated?" In his video, a woman is heard screaming: "I saw everything! I saw everything! You did not need to kill him! ... We watched it all!"

None of the four officers wore body cameras. Common Council President Sabrina Madison said: "My first thought is, when the officer's walking away, why isn't he walking away in cuffs. I'm angry, there's no way around it." She added, "He's a human being. He had a family. He has parents who loved him who brought him home, who cared for him."

The department has also stonewalled oversight. Independent police monitor Aeiramique Glass said police hadn't shared evidence or even the shooting officer's identity with her office, accusing the department of "obstructing what the community and the public" want, and demanding: "Let me do my job."

Police Chief John Patterson, while claiming to want "transparency" and "accountability," urged the public not to draw conclusions from the videos and offered only that "this situation was clearly dangerous." Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway acknowledged the core problem: "It does not matter who you are or what your past is, you should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement."

This is the third fatal police shooting in the same neighborhood since 2012, following two prior killings where officers were cleared without charges,  a pattern residents say has left the community, in the chief's own words, having "experienced a lot of trauma." Protesters interrupted Thursday's press conference, one sign reading "Corrupt cops deserve to die too!!!," reflecting fury that the department still lacks body cameras despite the recurring shootings, and that a $400,000 funding request for cameras is only now being considered.

Link: AP

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